The Story:
Three Republicans in Massachusetts are vying to contest in this year’s election the seat in the US Senate occupied by Elizabeth Warren (D). Observers generally agree Warren will get her re-election, but given President Trump’s recent rhetorical shots in her direction, one of them may find her or himself in an intense national spotlight before the campaign is over.
Background:
Warren, and her brothers, have said that they “grew up listening to our mother and grandmother and other relatives talk about our family’s Cherokee and Delaware heritage.” Since 2014, political opponents have claimed that she has falsely listed herself as a Native American in order to get preferential treatment in the jobs market, a charge that she denies.
President Trump has adopted this critique, calling Warren “Pocahontas” and offering her $1 million for a charity of her choice should she take a DNA test and prove that she is in fact a Native American.
The three Republicans vying for the spot on the ballot opposed to Warren’s are: John Kingston, an attorney who once clerked for a Judge on the 3rd Circuit US Court of Appeals; Geoff Diehl, who now serves in the Massachusetts legislature; and Beth Lindstrom, who was the Director of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation in Governor Romney’s cabinet.
The Thing to Know:
Senator Warren is often mentioned as a possible Democratic nominee for President in 2020. National Republicans may put on a push to narrow her margin of victory in her home state in 2018 if only to embarrass her prior to the national contest two years later.
